Displacement measurement system having a prism, for displacement measurement between two or more gratings

ABSTRACT

A displacement measurement system configured to provide measurement of the relative displacement of two components in six degrees of freedom with improved consistency and without requiring excessive space.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/384,834, filed Mar. 21, 2006 (that issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,636,165on Dec. 22, 2009), the entirety of which is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a displacement measurement system,lithographic apparatus, and a method for manufacturing a device.

2. Background Art

A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired patternonto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. Alithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture ofintegrated circuits (ICs). In that instance, a patterning device, whichis alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used togenerate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of theIC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g.,including part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g., a siliconwafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer ofradiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. Ingeneral, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent targetportions that are successively patterned. Known lithographic apparatusinclude so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiatedby exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at once, andso-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated byscanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the“scanning”-direction) while synchronously scanning the substrateparallel or anti-parallel to this direction. It is also possible totransfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate byimprinting the pattern onto the substrate.

The continuing drive to produce devices with ever higher componentdensities means that there is a continuing demand for lithographicprocesses, which manufacture such devices, to be able to create eversmaller components. A consequence of this is that it is desirable tocontrol the position of components within a lithographic apparatus withever greater accuracy. For example, as the size of the smallestcomponents to be formed on a substrate decreases, it is desirable tocontrol the position of the substrate with ever greater precision.

Conventionally known precision sensors, such as interferometers, mayprovide accurate position measurements. However, the accuracy ofconventional interferometers is limited by disturbances in the airthrough which the radiation beam of the interferometer passes. Suchdisturbances may include air turbulence and thermal variations.Accordingly, the accuracy of conventional interferometers can only beincreased by minimizing such disturbances. However, minimizing suchdisturbances, such as by introducing delays in order to allow the airturbulence to decrease and/or to allow the temperature of the air tosettle to within a required value, reduces the throughput of alithographic apparatus and, accordingly, increases the cost of using theapparatus.

Furthermore, any measurement system may only occupy a limited volume ofspace within the lithographic apparatus.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is desirable to provide an improved precision measurement system thatis less susceptible to errors but which does not occupy a large amountof space.

According to an embodiment of the invention, there is provided adisplacement measuring system configured to measure the displacementbetween first and second diffraction gratings; wherein the measurementsystem is configured such that: a first beam of radiation input to themeasurement system is divided into first and negative first orderdiffracted radiation beams by the first diffraction grating; the firstand negative first order diffracted radiation beams are furtherdiffracted by the second diffraction grating and subsequently recombinedto form a second beam of radiation; the measurement system furtherincludes a sensor configured to determine the relative displacement ofthe first and second gratings from a determination of the phasedifference between a first component of the second beam, derived fromthe first order diffracted radiation beam, and a second component of thesecond beam, derived from the negative first order diffracted radiationbeam; and wherein the measuring system further includes at least onelinear polarizer configured such that the first and second components ofthe second beam of radiation are linearly polarized, oriented inmutually orthogonal directions.

According to an embodiment of the invention, there is provided adisplacement measuring system configured to measure displacement betweenfirst and second components; wherein the first component is or isattached to a first elongate diffraction grating oriented such that itselongate direction is parallel to a first direction; the secondcomponent is or is attached to a second elongate diffraction gratingoriented such that its elongate direction is parallel to a seconddirection which is not parallel to the first direction; the measurementsystem further includes a sensor configured to detect a pattern ofradiation generated by the diffraction of at least one beam of radiationby the first and second elongate diffraction gratings; and the patternof radiation is indicative of the displacement of the first elongatediffraction grating relative to the second elongate diffraction gratingin a third direction perpendicular to both the first and the seconddirection.

According to an embodiment of the invention, there is provided adisplacement measurement system that measures the movement of a firstobject relative to a second object, including a first planar diffractiongrating mounted to the first object; a second planar diffraction gratingmounted to the second object and substantially parallel to the firstdiffracting grating; and a source providing a first beam of radiation;wherein the first beam of radiation is incident on a first point on thefirst diffraction grating and diffracted such that first order andnegative first order diffracted radiation is incident on the seconddiffraction grating; the second diffraction grating is configured suchthat: at least a part of the first order radiation from the firstdiffraction grating is further diffracted by the second diffractiongrating and is incident on a second point on the first diffractiongrating; at least a part of the negative first order radiation from thefirst diffraction grating is further diffracted by the second gratingand is incident on the second point on the first diffraction grating;and both radiation derived from the first order diffracted radiationfrom the first diffraction grating and radiation derived from thenegative first order diffracted radiation from the first diffractiongrating is further diffracted by the first diffraction grating andpropagates from the second point on the first grating in a commondirection as a second beam of radiation; and the displacementmeasurement system further includes a sensor that detects a pattern ofradiation derived from the second point on the first diffractiongrating, indicative of the relative movements of the two diffractiongratings in a direction parallel to the plane of the diffractiongratings and perpendicular to the striations of the diffractiongratings.

According to an embodiment of the invention, there is provided adisplacement measuring system that measures the movement of a firstobject relative to a second object, including: a first planardiffraction grating, connected to a first prism and mounted to the firstobject; a second planar diffraction grating, connected to a second prismand mounted to the second object; and a source providing a first beam ofradiation; wherein the first beam of radiation is incident on a firstpoint on the first diffraction grating and diffracted such that firstorder and negative first order diffracted radiation is transmittedthrough the first prism; the second diffraction grating is arranged suchthat the first and negative first order diffracted radiation, diffractedby the first grating, is incident on the second diffraction grating atfirst and second points, on the second diffraction grating, diffractedby the second diffraction grating and propagates into the second prism;the second prism is configured such that radiation propagating from thefirst and second points on the second diffraction grating is reflectedand is incident on third and fourth points on the second diffractiongating, respectively, at an angle parallel to the radiation propagatingfrom the first and second points on the second diffraction grating; theradiation incident on the third and fourth points on the seconddiffraction grating is further diffracted by the second diffractiongrating, passes through the first prism and is incident on a secondpoint on the first diffraction gating and is further diffracted suchthat radiation derived from the first order and the negative first orderradiation first diffracted by the first diffraction grating propagatesfrom the second point on the first diffraction grating in a commondirection as a second beam of radiation; and the displacement measuringsystem further includes a sensor that detects a pattern of radiationindicative of the relative movement of the two diffraction gratings in adirection parallel to the plane of the diffraction gratings andperpendicular to the striations of the diffraction gratings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of exampleonly, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings in whichcorresponding reference symbols indicate corresponding parts, and inwhich:

FIG. 1 depicts a lithographic apparatus according to an embodiment ofthe invention;

FIGS. 2 a, 2 b, 2 c, and 2 d depict a displacement measurement systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3 a, 3 b, 3 c, and 3 d depict a displacement measurement systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 depicts a detail of part of a displacement measurement systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 5 a, 5 b, 5 c, and 5 d depict a displacement measurement systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6 a, 6 b, 6 c, and 6 d depict a displacement measurement systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 7 a, 7 b, 7 c, 7 d, 7 e, and 7 f depict a displacement measurementsystem according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 8 a, 8 b, 8 c, 8 d, and 8 e depict a displacement measurementsystem according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 depicts an arrangement of displacement measurement systemsaccording to an embodiment of the present invention that may be used inconjunction with a lithographic apparatus;

FIG. 10 depicts an arrangement of displacement measurement systemsaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 depicts an arrangement of displacement measurement systemsaccording to an alternative embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 depicts an arrangement of displacement measurement systemsaccording to a further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13 depicts a relatively simple displacement measurement system inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 14 depicts a schematic arrangement of a displacement measurementsystem and the sensor unit used therein in accordance with an embodimentof the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 schematically depicts a lithographic apparatus according to oneembodiment of the invention. The apparatus includes an illuminationsystem (illuminator) IL configured to condition a radiation beam B(e.g., UV radiation or EUV radiation); a support structure (e.g., a masktable) MT constructed to support a patterning device (e.g., a mask) MAand connected to a first positioner PM configured to accurately positionthe patterning device in accordance with certain parameters; a substratetable (e.g., a wafer table) WT constructed to hold a substrate (e.g., aresist-coated wafer) W and connected to a second positioner PWconfigured to accurately position the substrate in accordance withcertain parameters; and a projection system (e.g., a refractiveprojection lens system) PS configured to project a pattern imparted tothe radiation beam B by patterning device MA onto a target portion C(e.g., including one or more dies) of the substrate W.

The illumination system may include various types of optical components,such as refractive, reflective, magnetic, electromagnetic,electrostatic, or other types of optical components, or any combinationthereof, for directing, shaping, or controlling radiation.

The support structure supports, i.e. bears the weight of, the patterningdevice. It holds the patterning device in a manner that depends on theorientation of the patterning device, the design of the lithographicapparatus, and other conditions, such as for example whether or not thepatterning device is held in a vacuum environment. The support structurecan use mechanical, vacuum, electrostatic, or other clamping techniquesto hold the patterning device. The support structure may be a frame or atable, for example, which may be fixed or movable as required. Thesupport structure may ensure that the patterning device is at a desiredposition, for example with respect to the projection system. Any use ofthe terms “reticle” or “mask” herein may be considered synonymous withthe more general term “patterning device.”

The term “patterning device” used herein should be broadly interpretedas referring to any device that can be used to impart a radiation beamwith a pattern in its cross-section such as to create a pattern in atarget portion of the substrate. It should be noted that the patternimparted to the radiation beam may not exactly correspond to the desiredpattern in the target portion of the substrate, for example if thepattern includes phase-shifting features or so called assist features.Generally, the pattern imparted to the radiation beam will correspond toa particular functional layer in a device being created in the targetportion, such as an integrated circuit.

The patterning device may be transmissive or reflective. Examples ofpatterning devices include masks, programmable mirror arrays, andprogrammable LCD panels. Masks are well known in lithography, andinclude mask types such as binary, alternating phase-shift, andattenuated phase-shift, as well as various hybrid mask types. An exampleof a programmable mirror array employs a matrix arrangement of smallmirrors, each of which can be individually tilted so as to reflect anincoming radiation beam in different directions. The tilted mirrorsimpart a pattern in a radiation beam, which is reflected by the mirrormatrix.

The term “projection system” used herein should be broadly interpretedas encompassing any type of projection system, including refractive,reflective, catadioptric, magnetic, electromagnetic, and electrostaticoptical systems, or any combination thereof, as appropriate for theexposure radiation being used, or for other factors such as the use ofan immersion liquid or the use of a vacuum. Any use of the term“projection lens” herein may be considered as synonymous with the moregeneral term “projection system.”

As here depicted, the apparatus is of a transmissive type (e.g.,employing a transmissive mask). Alternatively, the apparatus may be of areflective type (e.g., employing a programmable mirror array of a typeas referred to above, or employing a reflective mask).

The lithographic apparatus may be of a type having two (dual stage) ormore substrate tables (and/or two or more mask tables). In such“multiple stage” machines the additional tables may be used in parallel,or preparatory steps may be carried out on one or more tables while oneor more other tables are being used for exposure.

The lithographic apparatus may also be of a type wherein at least aportion of the substrate may be covered by a liquid having a relativelyhigh refractive index, e.g. water, so as to fill a space between theprojection system and the substrate. An immersion liquid may also beapplied to other spaces in the lithographic apparatus, for example,between the mask and the projection system. Immersion techniques arewell known in the art for increasing the numerical aperture ofprojection systems. The term “immersion” as used herein does not meanthat a structure, such as a substrate, must be submerged in liquid, butrather only means that liquid is located between the projection systemand the substrate during exposure.

Referring to FIG. 1, the illuminator IL receives a radiation beam from aradiation source SO. The source and the lithographic apparatus may beseparate entities, for example when the source is an excimer laser. Insuch cases, the source is not considered to form part of thelithographic apparatus and the radiation beam is passed from the sourceSO to the illuminator IL with the aid of a beam delivery system BDincluding, for example, suitable directing mirrors and/or a beamexpander. In other cases the source may be an integral part of thelithographic apparatus, for example when the source is a mercury lamp.The source SO and the illuminator IL, together with the beam deliverysystem BD if required, may be referred to as a radiation system.

The illuminator IL may include an adjuster AD for adjusting the angularintensity distribution of the radiation beam. Generally, at least theouter and/or inner radial extent (commonly referred to as σ-outer andσ-inner, respectively) of the intensity distribution in a pupil plane ofthe illuminator can be adjusted. In addition, the illuminator IL mayinclude various other components, such as an integrator IN and acondenser CO. The illuminator may be used to condition the radiationbeam, to have a desired uniformity and intensity distribution in itscross-section.

The radiation beam B is incident on the patterning device (e.g., maskMA), which is held on the support structure (e.g., mask table MT), andis patterned by the patterning device. Having traversed the mask MA, theradiation beam B passes through the projection system PS, which focusesthe beam onto a target portion C of the substrate W. With the aid of thesecond positioner PW and position sensor IF (e.g., an interferometricdevice, linear encoder or capacitive sensor), the substrate table WT canbe moved accurately, e.g. so as to position different target portions Cin the path of the radiation beam B. Similarly, the first positioner PMand another position sensor (which is not explicitly depicted in FIG. 1)can be used to accurately position the mask MA with respect to the pathof the radiation beam B, e.g. after mechanical retrieval from a masklibrary, or during a scan. In general, movement of the mask table MT maybe realized with the aid of a long-stroke module (coarse positioning)and a short-stroke module (fine positioning), which form part of thefirst positioner PM. Similarly, movement of the substrate table WT maybe realized using a long-stroke module and a short-stroke module, whichform part of the second positioner PW. In the case of a stepper (asopposed to a scanner) the mask table MT may be connected to ashort-stroke actuator only, or may be fixed. Mask MA and substrate W maybe aligned using mask alignment marks M1, M2 and substrate alignmentmarks P1, P2. Although the substrate alignment marks as illustratedoccupy dedicated target-portions, they may be located in spaces betweentarget portions (these are known as scribe-lane alignment marks).Similarly, in situations in which more than one die is provided on themask MA, the mask alignment marks may be located between the dies.

The depicted apparatus could be used in at least one of the followingmodes:

1. In step mode, the mask table MT and the substrate table WT are keptessentially stationary, while an entire pattern imparted to theradiation beam is projected onto a target portion C at one time (i.e., asingle static exposure). The substrate table WT is then shifted in the Xand/or Y direction so that a different target portion C can be exposed.In step mode, the maximum size of the exposure field limits the size ofthe target portion C imaged in a single static exposure.

2. In scan mode, the mask table MT and the substrate table WT arescanned synchronously while a pattern imparted to the radiation beam isprojected onto a target portion C (i.e., a single dynamic exposure). Thevelocity and direction of the substrate table WT relative to the masktable MT may be determined by the (de-)magnification and image reversalcharacteristics of the projection system PS. In scan mode, the maximumsize of the exposure field limits the width (in the non-scanningdirection) of the target portion in a single dynamic exposure, whereasthe length of the scanning motion determines the height (in the scanningdirection) of the target portion.

3. In another mode, the mask table MT is kept essentially stationaryholding a programmable patterning device, and the substrate table WT ismoved or scanned while a pattern imparted to the radiation beam isprojected onto a target portion C. In this mode, generally a pulsedradiation source is employed and the programmable patterning device isupdated as required after each movement of the substrate table WT or inbetween successive radiation pulses during a scan. This mode ofoperation can be readily applied to maskless lithography that utilizesprogrammable patterning device, such as a programmable mirror array of atype as referred to above.

Combinations and/or variations on the above described modes of use orentirely different modes of use may also be employed.

The displacement measuring system of an embodiment of the presentinvention corresponds to the principles described by SPIES, A. in“Linear and Angular Encoders for the “High-Resolution Range”, Progressin Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology, Braunschweig, 1997,incorporated herein by reference. FIG. 13 shows a relatively simple formof such a displacement measurement system 200. It includes a firstdiffraction grating 201 mounted on a first object and an associatedsecond diffraction grating 202 mounted on a second object. For example,one diffraction grating may be mounted to a reference frame within alithographic apparatus and the other mounted to a component of thelithographic apparatus of which it is intended that the displacementmeasurement system will measure the position relative to the referenceframe.

The first and second diffraction gratings 201, 202 are planar andarranged such that the planes of the diffraction gratings aresubstantially parallel to each other. In addition, the striations ofeach of the diffraction gratings, used to form the gratings, aresubstantially parallel to one another. In addition, the diffractiongratings are arranged such that diffracted radiation from one of thegratings is received on the other of the gratings.

The position of one grating relative to another may be reliably measuredin a direction 203 within a plane substantially parallel to the planesof the diffracting gratings and substantially perpendicular to thestriations of the diffraction gratings, using an interferentialmeasurement principle which can yield measurements of sub-nanometeraccuracy. When the first diffraction grating moves relative to thesecond diffraction grating in the direction of measurement, phasedifferences in the radiation are generated by the diffraction gratingarranged to receive diffracted radiation from the other of thediffraction gratings. These generated phase differences are proportionalto the displacement of one diffraction grating relative to the other.

In a typical arrangement, a radiation source 204 provides a collimatedradiation beam, which is substantially perpendicular to the direction ofmeasurement and is incident on the first diffraction grating 201 whereit is diffracted. The positive and negative first order radiation passesas a first diffracted signal to the second diffraction grating 202. Atthe second diffraction grating 202, the first diffracted light signal isfurther diffracted and reflected to form a second diffracted signal. Thesecond diffracted signal interferes on the first diffraction grating 201and is further diffracted to form a third diffracted signal. The thirddiffracted signal is directed to a sensor having, for example, threephoto detectors 205, 206, 207 that are used to measure the phasedifferences discussed above and hence determine the relativedisplacement.

FIG. 14 schematically depicts an arrangement of the displacementmeasurement system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.The depiction in FIG. 14 does not necessarily correspond to the physicalarrangement of the components of the displacement measurement system butis useful for explaining the principle of operation of the displacementmeasurement system in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

As shown, the beam of radiation 210 from a radiation source is dividedby a first diffraction grating 211 into first and second beams ofradiation 212, 213 corresponding to first and negative first orderdiffracted radiation, respectively. The first and second beams ofradiation 212, 213 are further diffracted by a second diffractiongrating 214 and recombined, for example at the first diffraction grating211, to form a re-combined, information-containing, beam of radiation215 that is input to a sensor 216 in order to determine the relativedisplacement of the first and second diffraction gratings 211, 214. Asdiscussed above, the sensor 216 determines the relative displacement ofthe first and second diffraction gratings 211, 214 from phasedifferences generated between the first and negative first orderdiffracted radiation 212, 213. In order to distinguish between the firstorder and the negative first order diffracted radiation 212, 213,according to an embodiment of the present invention, the radiation maybe linearly polarized such that the orientation of the linearpolarization of the first order radiation is substantially orthogonal tothe orientation of the linearly polarized radiation of the negativefirst order diffracted radiation. For example, in the arrangementdepicted in FIG. 14, linear polarizers 217, 218 are provided between thefirst diffraction grating 211 and the second diffraction grating 214 inorder to linearly polarize the first order and negative first orderdiffracted radiation in mutually orthogonal directions. A benefit ofusing linear polarizers is that it is relatively easy to manufacturethem as elongate components. Accordingly, they may conveniently be usedto form displacement measurement systems that have a large workingrange.

It should be appreciated that although the linear polarizers 217, 218are only depicted in FIG. 14 between the first and second diffractiongratings 211, 214 such that the first and negative first orderdiffracted radiation 212, 213 passes through the linear polarizers 217,218 before reaching the second diffraction grating 214, the first orderand negative first order diffracted radiation 212, 213 may pass throughthe linear polarizers 217, 218 a second time after being diffracted bythe second diffraction grating 214 before being recombined at the firstdiffraction grating 211 to form the information-containing beam ofradiation 215.

Accordingly, the information-containing beam of radiation 215 includesradiation derived from the first and negative first order diffractedradiation, respectively, each component being linearly polarized in anorientation substantially orthogonal to the other and each componentbeing parallel to the other and having a common axis. The phasedifference between the two components is indicative of the relativedisplacement of the first and second diffraction gratings 211, 214.

The sensor 216 includes a non-polarizing beam splitter 220 that dividesthe information-containing beam of radiation 215 into at least first andsecond information-containing sub-beams of radiation 221, 222. Thesesub-beams of radiation 221, 222 may have the same properties as theinformation-containing beam of radiation 215 except that its intensityis divided between them. As depicted in FIG. 14, both sub-beams ofradiation 221, 222 are directed through a polarizer 223 that is arrangedwith a polarizing axis that is at substantially 45° relative to theorientations of the linearly polarized radiation of both components ofthe information-containing beam of radiation 215. It should beappreciated that separate such polarizers may be provided for eachsub-beam of radiation. In the case of the first sub-beam of radiation221, the radiation may be directed directly from the beam splitter 220to the polarizer 223. In the case of the second sub-beam of radiation222, the radiation from the beam splitter 220 is passed through awaveplate 224 before reaching the polarizer 223. The waveplate 224 isoriented such that the fast axis and the slow axis of the waveplate aresubstantially parallel to the orientation of the linearly polarizedradiation of the components of the information-containing beam ofradiation 215. Having passed through the polarizer 223, the sub-beams ofradiation are directed to respective light intensity detectors 225, 226.

The sensor 216 is configured to determine the phase difference betweenthe components of the information-containing beam of radiation 215corresponding to the first and negative first order diffracted radiation212, 213. This phase difference is determined by the relativedisplacement of the first and second diffraction gratings 211, 214 andis designated cp. The intensity of the radiation detected by the firstradiation intensity detector 225, corresponding to the sub-beam ofradiation 221 that is not passed through a waveplate, has a maximumintensity when φ is 0+2nπ, where n is an integer. As the firstdiffraction grating 211 moves relative to the second diffraction grating214, the phase φ changes, resulting in a change of intensity detected bythe first radiation intensity detector 225. Accordingly, monitoring theoscillation of the intensity detected by the radiation intensitydetection 225 makes it possible to detect the displacement of the firstdiffraction grating 211 relative to the second diffraction grating 214.

The second radiation intensity detector 226 detects a correspondingsignal. However, the waveplate 224 is configured to introduce a phaseshift of 0+2mπ, where m is an integer. Accordingly, θ can be selectedsuch that the signals detected by the radiation intensity sensors 225,226 as the diffraction gratings move relative to each other are out ofphase, for example by 90°. Consequently, when monitoring the intensitydetected by both the first and the second radiation intensity detectors225, 226, it is possible to not only determine the magnitude of thedisplacement of the first diffraction grating 221 relative to the seconddiffraction grating 214 but also the direction of the displacement.Furthermore, monitoring both signals improves the accuracy of themeasurement. For example, as the first diffraction grating 211 movesrelative to the second diffraction grating 214, of the radiationdetected by one of the radiation intensity sensors 225, 226 reaches amaximum, the change in intensity detected by that detector for a givenrelative movement of the first and second diffraction gratings 211, 214,becomes smaller, reducing the accuracy possible from considering theoutput of that radiation intensity sensor alone. However, because thesignals from the two radiation intensity sensors 225, 226 are not inphase, the other of the radiation intensity sensors will not bedetecting the maximum radiation intensity at the same time andaccordingly will be able to provide an accurate measurement of therelative displacement of the first and second diffraction gratings 211,214.

Further improvements in accuracy may be achieved by providing furthersub-beams of radiation from the radiation beam splitter 220 andarranging the additional sub-beams of radiation in the same manner asthe second sub-beam of radiation 22 but such that each sub-beam ofradiation has a waveplate with a different thickness, corresponding todifferent phase difference. For example, in an arrangement with threesub-beams of radiation, the sensor 216 may be configured such that thesecond and third radiation intensity detectors (namely those includingwaveplates in their beam paths) are about 120° and 240°, respectively,out of phase with the signal detected by the first radiation intensitydetector. It should be appreciated that any convenient number ofsub-beams of radiation may be used.

The encoders as described above effectively measure a phase differencebetween radiation derived from the first order diffracted radiation fromthe first diffraction grating and the negative first order diffractedradiation from the first diffraction grating. The phase difference isdependent on the relative position of the two gratings and changes asone grating moves relative to another. However, differences in theenvironmental conditions of one beam path relative to another, mayreduce the accuracy of the measurement, especially because thepathlength for which the beams follow different paths may be for a largeproportion of the total pathlength of radiation in the displacementmeasurement sensor.

Accordingly, a displacement measurement system according to anembodiment of the present invention has been proposed. Such adisplacement measurement system is depicted in FIGS. 2 a, 2 b, 2 c, and2 d which are, respectively, a top view of the system, a side view ofthe system, a front view of the system and a perspective view of thesystem.

A first beam of radiation 10 is provided by a radiation source 11. Itwill be appreciated that a radiation source 11 may include a componentfor generating the radiation beam 10. Alternatively, the beam ofradiation may be generated external to the displacement measurementsystem (and, where the displacement measurement system is used as partof lithographic apparatus, possibly external to the lithographicapparatus itself) in which case the source 11 will direct and/orcondition the radiation as necessary to provide the beam of radiation10.

As shown, the beam of radiation 10 is directed by way of a firstreflector 12 to a first diffraction grating 13. The first beam ofradiation 10 is incident on the first diffraction grating 13 at a point14. The diffraction grating 13 is transmissive and a first sub-beam ofradiation 15, corresponding to positive first order diffracted radiationfrom the first diffraction grating 13, and a second sub-beam ofradiation 16, corresponding to negative first order diffracted radiationdiffracted from the first grating 13, are incident on a second grating17. The second grating 17 is reflective. The sub-beams of radiation 15,16, corresponding to the first order diffracted radiation and thenegative first order diffracted radiation are reflected and diffractedby the second diffraction grating 17. The second diffraction grating isspecifically configured such that diffracted radiation 18, derived fromthe positive first order radiation 15 diffracted by the first grating 13is reflected back from the second diffraction grating 17 to a secondpoint 20 on the first diffraction grating 13. Likewise, diffractedradiation 19, derived from the negative first order radiation 16diffracted by the first diffraction grating 13 is diffracted by thesecond grating 17 and reflected back to the second point 20 on the firstdiffraction grating 13. Both sub-beams of radiation 18, 19 aresubsequently further diffracted by the first diffraction grating 13 andeffectively recombined to form a second beam of radiation 21.Accordingly, although radiation corresponding to the positive firstorder diffracted radiation and the negative first order diffractedradiation have followed a different path for a portion of theirrespective lengths, the length of the path for which they have followeddifferent paths is relatively short compared to a conventionaldisplacement measurement system. In particular, the proportion of thetotal pathlength for which the first and negative first order diffractedradiation follows different paths is far shorter in the arrangementaccording to the embodiment of the invention than in the conventionalarrangement. Accordingly, the system according to the embodiment of thepresent invention shown in FIGS. 2 a-d is less sensitive to variation inthe air through which the beam passes, such as turbulence and thermalvariations.

A convenient way of configuring the first and second diffractiongratings to ensure that the radiation derived from the positive firstand negative first order diffracted radiation from the first gratingcoincides on the first grating once it has been diffracted by the secondgrating is to select the first and second diffraction gratings such thatthe pitch of the second diffraction grating is about half that of thefirst diffraction grating.

As depicted in the embodiment of FIGS. 2 a-d, the second beam ofradiation 21 may be reflected by a second reflector 22 to a cornercube23 which returns the second beam of radiation to the second reflector 22in a direction substantially parallel to that which it was provided tothe cornercube. The second beam of radiation 21 is subsequently againreflected by the second reflector 22 and, accordingly, directed back onto the first grating 13.

Accordingly, the second beam of radiation 21 undergoes the same processas the first beam of radiation 10, namely is diffracted by the firstdiffraction grating 13, diffracted and reflected by the seconddiffraction grating 17 and radiation, corresponding to the first orderand negative first order diffracted radiation from the first diffractionby the first diffraction grating 13 is incident on a single point 24 onthe first diffraction grating, whereupon it is further diffracted andcombined to form a single third beam of radiation 25 which is reflectedby the first reflector 12 to the sensor 26 which, in the conventionalmanner, determines the relative movement of the first and seconddiffraction gratings 13, 17.

As a consequence of the second beam of radiation 21 being redirectedthrough the system of diffraction gratings 13, 17 a second time, thesystem is made less sensitive to errors caused by rotations of onecomponent relative to another, for example of the first diffractiongrating 13 relative to the second diffraction grating 17.

The perspective view of the embodiment of the displacement measurementsystem, shown in FIG. 2 d, shows the orientation of the striations ofthe diffraction grating 13, 17. It is to be understood that, in linewith conventional displacement measurement systems, the direction ofmovement that is measured by the displacement measurement system isrelative movement of the two diffraction gratings 13, 17 in a directionsubstantially parallel to the plane of the diffraction gratings andsubstantially perpendicular to the direction of the striations of thediffraction gratings, which are mutually parallel.

As suggested above, the displacement measurement system according to anembodiment of the present invention may be used to measure thedisplacement of one component within a lithographic apparatus relativeto another. For example, a displacement measurement system depicted inembodiment 1 and described above, may be used to measure thedisplacement of a substrate table in a lithographic apparatus relativeto a reference frame. From this, the position of the substrate tablerelative to the reference frame may be determined. Accordingly, in turn,it is possible to determine the position of the substrate table relativeto other components within the lithographic apparatus such as theprojection system. In such a situation, the first diffraction grating 13and the first and second reflectors 12, 22 may be connected to, forexample, an edge of the substrate table and the second diffractiongrating 17 and the cornercube 23 may be connected to the referenceframe. Accordingly, measurement of the displacement of the seconddiffraction grating 17 relative to the first diffraction grating 13corresponds to the displacement of the substrate table relative to thereference frame. The radiation source 11 and the sensor 26 may also bemounted to the reference frame.

In the manner as described above in relation to the embodiment of theinvention shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, in the displacement measurementsystem of this embodiment of the present invention, the polarization ofat least one of the negative first order radiation and the positivefirst order radiation diffracted from the first diffraction grating maybe polarized. In a convenient arrangement as shown in FIG. 4 (which is apartial front view of the displacement measurement system correspondingto FIGS. 2 c and 3 c), polarizers 35, 36 may conveniently be provided onthe second grating 17. As shown in FIG. 4, if desired, an absorber 38may be provided to absorb the zero order radiation. Preferably, thepolarizers 35, 36 corresponding to the first order and negative firstorder radiation 31, 32 diffracted from the first diffraction grating 13,respectively, polarize the radiation in mutually orthogonal directions.

FIGS. 3 a, 3 b, 3 c, and 3 d depict a top view, a side view, a frontview and a perspective view, respectively, of a displacement measurementsystem according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Muchof the embodiment of FIGS. 3 a-d is identical to the embodiment of FIGS.2 a-d and the description thereof will not be repeated. The embodimentof FIGS. 3 a-d differs from the embodiment of FIGS. 2 a-d in that thecornercube 23 is replaced with a prism 30.

A benefit of using a prism in place of a cube corner is that it can beformed as an elongate component, for example having the cross-sectionsuch as shown in FIG. 3 b but extending the full length of the object towhich it is attached. In contrast, the cube corner cannot be made in anelongate form. Accordingly, whereas the cube corner should be mounted tothe same object as the second diffraction grating, a prism may bemounted to either object and, if mounted to the first object, is formedas an elongate prism. For example, in the context of a lithographicapparatus, it is possible to mount a prism on the substrate table,running the length of one side of the substrate table whereas a cubecorner would need to be mounted to the reference frame. The formerarrangement provides a displacement measurement sensor that is lesssensitive to rotations of the substrate table.

A further benefit of a displacement measuring system using a prism isthat, although not depicted in FIGS. 3 a, 3 b, 3 c, and 3 d, thedisplacement measurement system may be further configured to sense thezero order radiation transmitted through the first diffraction grating.The difference in path length between the zero order radiation andeither one of the first order and negative first order radiationdiffracted by the first diffraction grating, is dependent on theseparation of the first and second diffraction gratings in a directionsubstantially perpendicular to the plane of the first and seconddiffraction gratings. Accordingly, by configuring the sensor to comparethe path length of the zero order radiation with at least one of thepositive first and negative first order radiation, the displacementmeasurement system of an embodiment of the present invention is able tomeasure the separation of the diffraction gratings (and hence thecomponents to which they are attached) in a direction substantiallyperpendicular to the plane of the diffraction gratings, in addition tomeasuring the displacement in a direction substantially parallel to theplane of the diffraction gratings and substantially perpendicular to thestriations of the diffraction gratings.

As shown in FIG. 4, if the displacement measurement system is to measurethe displacement of the diffraction gratings in a directionsubstantially perpendicular to the plane of the gratings, an additionalpolarizer 37 may be provided on the second grating and oriented suchthat the zero order radiation 34 and the one of the first and negativefirst order radiation 33 being used to detect the displacementperpendicular to the plane of the gratings are polarized insubstantially mutually orthogonal directions.

FIG. 5 a depicts a side view of a displacement measurement systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment issimilar to the embodiment of FIGS. 3 a-d and therefore only thedifferences between the two embodiments will be described. As shown, thereflectors and the corner prism of the embodiment of FIGS. 3 a-d havebeen replaced with a single prism 40. A single face 41 of the prism 40takes the place of the reflectors in the embodiment of FIGS. 3 a-d.Likewise the corner between two further faces 42,43 of the prism 40takes the place of the corner prism of the embodiment of FIGS. 3 a-d. Asa further benefit, the first grating 13 may be formed on a fourth face44 of the prism 40. If the displacement measurement system is to be usedto measure the displacement of a substrate table within a lithographicapparatus, for example, this embodiment may be particularly beneficial.This is because only a single component, namely the prism 40 needs to bemounted to the edge, for example, of the substrate table. This not onlyfacilitates the manufacture of the lithographic apparatus but alsominimizes the space requirements of the displacement measurement systemwithin the lithographic apparatus and minimizes the possibility oferrors being introduced by variations in the position of components ofthe displacement measurement system relative to other components withinthe displacement measurement system.

FIGS. 5 b and 5 c depict perspective views of a displacement measurementsystem corresponding to that shown in FIG. 5 a.

As shown, the system has three displacement measurement systems 51, 52,53. The first and third displacement measurements systems 51, 53 measurethe relative displacement of the first and second diffraction gratings54, 55 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of thediffraction gratings 54, 55. It will be appreciated that because thefirst and third displacement measurement systems are separated from eachother in a direction substantially perpendicular to their measurementdirections, it is also possible to measure a relative rotation of thetwo diffraction gratings 54, 55. The second displacement measurementsystem 52 is used to measure the relative displacement of thediffraction gratings 54, 55 in a direction substantially parallel to theplane of the diffraction gratings 54, 55 but substantially perpendicularto their striations.

In a manner corresponding to that discussed above in relation to FIG. 4,polarizers 56, 57, 58, 59 are provided, attached to the seconddiffraction grating 55 to polarize the two portions of the radiationused for each displacement measurement system in mutually orthogonaldirections. As depicted polarizers 56, 58 polarize radiation in anorthogonal direction to polarizers 57, 59. An absorber 60 is provided toabsorb the zero order radiation of the second displacement measurementsystem 52.

FIG. 5 d depicts, in cross section, a variant of the arrangement ofFIGS. 5 a, 5 b and 5 c. In this case the prism 65 is arranged such thatthe face 65 a of the prism on which the radiation from the radiationsource is initially incident is substantially perpendicular to the beamof radiation. Consequently the radiation does not refract at theboundary between the air and the face 60 a of the prism.

FIGS. 6 a, 6 b, 6 c, and 6 d depict a top view, a side view, a frontview, and a perspective view, respectively, of a displacementmeasurement system according to an embodiment of the present invention.In this embodiment, both diffraction gratings may be reflective. Thismay be particularly beneficial for use with radiation that is readilyabsorbed. It may further ease the manufacture of the diffractiongratings. An additional benefit is that, in this case, the displacementmeasurement direction is substantially parallel to the direction of thebeam radiation provided by the source.

In this case, the first beam of radiation 70 is directed onto the firstdiffraction grating 71 between first and second parts 72, 73 of thesecond diffraction grating. The second diffraction grating may be formedas two entirely separate diffraction gratings or may be formed as asingle diffractive grating with a gap in the middle. The firstdiffraction grating 71 and the first and second parts 72, 73 of thesecond diffraction grating are configured such that the first orderdiffracted radiation diffracted by the first diffraction grating 71 isincident on the first part 72 of the second diffraction grating and thenegative first order diffracted radiation diffracted by the firstdiffraction grating 71 is incident on the second part 73 of the seconddiffraction grating. As with the other embodiments, the first and secondparts 72, 73 of the second diffraction grating are configured such thatradiation is diffracted at each and reflected back to a common point onthe first diffraction grating 71 to form a common beam such that thefirst order radiation and the negative first order radiation diffractedby the first diffraction grating follows a common beam path to as greatan extent as possible.

FIGS. 7 a, 7 b, 7 c, and 7 d depict a top view, a side view, a frontview and a perspective view, respectively, of a displacement measurementsystem according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, afirst beam of radiation 81 is provided by a source of radiation 80. Itwill be appreciated that, as with the other embodiments of theinvention, the radiation source 80 may include a component forgenerating the radiation beam 81. Alternatively, the beam of radiationmay be generated external to the displacement measurement system (and,where the displacement measurement system is used as part of alithographic apparatus, possibly external to the lithographic apparatusitself), in which case the source 80 will direct and/or condition theradiation as necessary to provide the beam of radiation 81.

As shown in FIGS. 7 a to 7 d, the beam of radiation 81 may be directedby way of a reflector 82 to a first diffraction grating 83. As shown,the first diffraction grating 83 is transmissive and connected to afirst prism 84. It will be appreciated that there may be a gap betweenthe first diffraction grating 83 and the first prism 84. However, asshown in FIGS. 7 a to 7 d, there may be no separation between the firstdiffraction grating 83 and the first prism 84. In particular, the firstdiffraction grating 83 may be formed on the surface on the first prism84.

The radiation is incident on a first point on the first diffractiongrating 83 and diffracted, generating first order and negative firstorder diffracted radiation 85, 86. The first order and negative firstorder diffracted radiation 85, 86 propagates through the first prism 84and is incident on the second diffracting grating 87 at first and secondpoints on the second diffraction grating, respectively. The seconddiffraction grating 87 is also transmissive and attached to a secondprism 88. As with the first diffraction grating 83 and the first prism84, the second diffraction grating 87 and the second prism 88 may beconnected such that there is a gap between them or such there is no gapbetween them. Likewise, the second diffraction grating 87 may be formedon a face of the second prism 88.

The radiation derived from the first order and negative first orderdiffracted radiation 85, 86 diffracted by the first diffraction grating83 and incident on the first and second points on the second diffractiongrating 87, respectively, is further diffracted by the seconddiffraction grating 87 and propagates through the second prism 88. Thesecond prism 88 is shaped such that radiation propagating from the firstand second points on the second diffraction grating 87 is reflected insuch a manner as to be incident on the second diffraction grating 87 atthird and fourth points, respectively, on the second diffraction grating87, in a direction substantially parallel to the direction ofpropagation of radiation propagating from the first and second points onthe second diffraction grating 87. The radiation incident on the thirdand fourth points on the second diffraction grating 87 is subsequentlyfurther diffracted by the second diffraction grating 87, propagatesthrough the first prism 84 and is incident on a second point on thefirst diffraction grating 83. Accordingly, radiation derived from boththe first order and negative first order of diffracted radiation 85,86,initially diffracted by the first diffraction grating 83, is incident ona common point, the second point, on the first diffraction grating 83.This radiation is further diffracted by the first diffraction grating 83and propagates from the second point on the first diffraction grating ina common direction as a second beam of radiation 89 which may bereflected to the sensor 90. Subsequently, in a manner as discussedabove, the sensor 90 may determine the relative movement of the firstand second diffraction gratings 83, 87.

Although not shown in FIGS. 7 a to 7 d, it should be understood that thestriations of the first and second diffraction gratings 83, 87 arearranged in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of theside view shown in FIG. 7 b. Accordingly, the embodiment of FIGS. 5 a-dprovides a displacement measurement system that measures the relativedisplacement of the diffraction grating in a direction parallel to thedirection of the beam of radiation provided by the source.

As shown in FIG. 7 b, the first prism 84 may be arranged such that afirst face 84 a on the first prism 84, to which the first diffractiongrating 83 is connected, may be parallel to a second face 84 b of thefirst prism 84 from which the first order and negative first orderdiffractive radiation 85, 86 propagates before it is incident on thesecond diffraction grating 87. Conveniently, the first prism 84 may havea rectangular cross section.

In order to ensure that the radiation is propagating from the first andsecond point on the second diffraction grating 87 is reflected such thatthe reflected radiation, incident on the third and fourth points,respectively, on the second diffraction grating, is substantiallyparallel to the radiation propagating from the first and second pointson the second diffraction grating 87, the second prism 88 may be acorner prism. In particular, as shown in FIGS. 7 a to 7 d, the secondprism 88 may be an elongate corner prism, allowing the displacementmeasurement system to measure displacement of the first diffractiongrating 83 relative to the second diffraction grating 87 at any pointalong the length of the second diffraction grating 87 (and hence thesecond prism 88).

As shown in the Figures, although the first order and negative firstorder diffracted radiation follow different beam paths for a significantproportion of the length of the beam path, for a significant portion ofthe beam path for which the first order and negative first orderradiation is separated, the radiation is passing through the first andsecond prisms 84, 88, rather through the ambient air. Accordingly,because the portion of the total pathlength, for which the first andnegative first order radiation follows different paths and passesthrough the air, is considerable shorter in an arrangement according tothis embodiment compared to, for example, the conventional arrangement,the displacement measurement system is less sensitive to variations inthe air through which the beam passes, such as turbulence and thermalvariations.

As with the previously described embodiments, it will be appreciatedthat the first diffraction grating 83 may be attached to a first objectand the second diffraction grating 87 attached to a second object.Accordingly, measurement of the displacement of the first diffractiongrating 83 relative to the second diffraction grating 87 provides themeasurement of the displacement of the first object relative to thesecond object. Conveniently, the first prism 84 may be connected to thefirst object and the second prism 88 may be connected to the secondobject. The radiation source 80, the sensor 90, and the reflector 82,where used, may each be connected to the second object.

Although not shown in FIGS. 7 a to 7 d, the displacement measurementsystem according to this embodiment, may be modified in a mannercorresponding to that above to provide additionally a displacementmeasurement sensor that measures the displacement of the firstdiffraction grating 83 relative to the second diffraction grating 87 ina direction substantially perpendicular to the planes of the diffractiongratings 83, 87. In particular, an arrangement may be provided that issimilar to that shown but modified such that, instead of, or as well as,comparing the first order radiation with the negative first orderradiation 85, 86 diffracted by the first diffraction grating 83, itcompares one of the first and negative first order diffractive radiation85, 86 is with zero order radiation propagating from the firstdiffraction grating 83. In such an arrangement, the displacement of thefirst diffraction grating 83 relative to the second diffraction grating87 may be measured by comparing the pathlengths of the zero orderradiation and the one of the first and negative first order diffractedradiation.

It should be understood that, as with the embodiments discussed above,the displacement measuring system of the embodiment of FIGS. 7 a-drelies on comparing radiation derived from two beam paths. Accordingly,in the manner discussed above, polarizers may be provided to polarizethe radiation of the two beam paths in substantially mutually orthogonaldirections.

FIG. 7 e depicts a variant of the arrangement of the displacementmeasurement system depicted in FIGS. 7 a to 7 d. In this variant, thefirst prism 84, which in the arrangement of FIGS. 7 a to 7 d has arectangular cross section, and the reflector 82 are replaced by a singleprism 184 arranged such that the beam of radiation 181 provided by theradiation source reflects off an inclined face 184 a of the prism 184.The first diffraction grating 183 is reflective and arranged on theinclined face 184 a of the prism 184. Accordingly, the beam of radiation181 is diffracted by the diffraction grating 183 and the first orderradiation and the negative first order radiation 185, 186 propagatesthrough the prism 184 and may be polarized by respective polarizers 188,189 arranged on a second face 184 b of the prism 184, for example,before being incident on the second diffraction grating 187.

FIG. 7 f depicts a variant that corresponds to the arrangement of thedisplacement measurement system depicted in FIG. 7 e but replacing thereflective diffraction grating 183 with a transmissive diffractiongrating 183′ arranged on the face 184 b′ of the prism 184′ on which thebeam of radiation 181′ is initially incident. Accordingly, the beam ofradiation 181′ is diffracted by the transmissive diffraction grating183′ and the first order and negative first order diffracted radiation185′, 186′ propagates through the prism 184′ are separately reflected byan inclined fact 184 a′ of the prism 184′ and may be polarized byrespective polarizers 188′, 189′ before being incident on the seconddiffraction grating 187′.

The arrangements of the displacement measurement system depicted inFIGS. 7 e and 7 f may be the same as those depicted in FIGS. 7 a to 7 dunless otherwise described above.

FIGS. 8 a, 8 b, and 8 c depict perspective views of a displacementmeasurement system according to an embodiment of the present invention.FIGS. 8 d and 8 e depict a part of this displacement measuring system inmore detail. The displacement measuring system of the embodimentprovides an exemplary arrangement combining displacement measurementsystems as described above. It should be appreciated that othercombinations of the displacement measurements systems discussed aboveare possible and any such combinations should be considered to be withinthe scope of this application.

The system includes first and second displacement measuring systems 91,92 that function in the same manner as the first and second displacementmeasurement systems 51, 52 depicted in FIGS. 5 b and 5 c as discussedabove. Accordingly, the first and second displacement measurementsystems, 91, 92 employ a first diffraction grating 93 and a seconddiffraction grating 94 and measure the relative displacement of thefirst and second diffraction gratings 93, 94 in a first direction withinthe plane of the diffraction gratings 93, 94 and substantiallyperpendicular to the striations of the first and second diffractiongratings 93, 94 and a second direction, substantially perpendicular tothe plane of the diffraction gratings 93, 94, respectively. Thesedirections correspond to the y and z direction, respectively depicted inFIG. 8 a.

The system further includes a third displacement measurement system 95that is similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 7 a-d discussed above andmeasures the displacement of a third diffraction grating 96 relative toa fourth diffraction grating 97 in a direction substantially parallel tothe first, second, and fourth diffraction gratings 93, 94, 97 butsubstantially perpendicular to the first measuring direction (which isalso substantially perpendicular to the striations on the third andfourth diffraction gratings 96, 97). This corresponds to the x directionshown in FIG. 8 a.

FIGS. 8 d and 8 e depict a side view and a front view, respectively, ofthe system depicted in FIGS. 8 a, 8 b, and 8 c, but only showing thebeam paths for the third displacement measurement system 95. In commonwith the embodiment of FIGS. 7 a-d, a beam of radiation is diffracted bythe third diffraction grating 96 (which corresponds to the firstdiffraction grating of the embodiment of FIGS. 7 a-d) and first andnegative first order diffracted radiation propagates through the prism98 to which the third diffraction grating 96 is connected. The first andnegative first order diffracted radiation is incident on first andsecond points on the fourth diffraction grating 97 (which corresponds tothe second diffraction grating of the embodiment of FIGS. 7 a-d), isfurther diffracted by the second diffraction grating and propagatesthrough a second prism 99. The second prism 99 reflects the radiationderived from the first order and negative first order diffractedradiation diffracted by the third diffracting grating 96 such that it isincident on the third and fourth points on the fourth diffractinggrating 97, respectively, in a direction substantially parallel to thedirection that the radiation propagated from the first and second pointson the fourth diffraction grating 97. The radiation incident on thethird and fourth points on the fourth diffraction grating 97 is furtherdiffracted, propagates through the first prism 98 and is incident on asecond point on the third diffraction grating 96. As with the embodimentof FIGS. 7 a-d, the radiation derived from the first and negative firstorder diffracted radiation diffracted by the third diffracting grating96 returns to a common point, namely the second point, on the thirddiffraction grating 96. The radiation incident on the second point onthe third diffracting grating 96 is further diffracted by the thirddiffraction grating 96 and propagates in a common direction as a secondbeam of radiation that is directed to the corresponding sensor of thethird displacement measurement system 95.

As shown in FIGS. 8 a to 8 e, the difference between the thirddisplacement measurement system 95 of the system depicted in FIGS. 8 ato 8 e and the displacement measurement system of the embodiment shownin FIGS. 7 a-d is that the third diffraction grating 96 is reflectiveand mounted such that the first beam of radiation incident on a firstpoint on the third diffracting grating 96 propagates through the firstprism 98 in order to be incident on the third diffraction grating 96.Accordingly, as shown, the first prism 98 of the third displacementmeasurement system 95 can be the same prism as that used for the firstand second displacement measurement systems 91, 92.

As shown, the third displacement measurement system 95 may includepolarizers 78, 79, arranged in order to polarize the radiation derivedfrom the first and negative first order diffracted radiation,respectively in substantially mutually orthogonal directions.

As described above, there is provided a displacement measurement systemthat can measure the displacement of a first diffraction gratingrelative to a second diffraction grating, parallel to the firstdiffraction grating, in a direction substantially parallel to the planeof the two diffraction gratings and substantially perpendicular to thestriations of the diffraction gratings. In addition, the displacementmeasurement system may alternatively or additionally be configured tomeasure the displacement of the first diffraction grating relative tothe second diffraction grating in a direction substantiallyperpendicular to the plane of the two diffraction gratings. By providinga third diffraction grating, adjacent to the first diffraction gratingand arranged within the same plane as the first diffraction grating butwith its striations substantially perpendicular to those of the firstdiffraction grating and by providing a fourth diffraction grating,adjacent the second diffraction grating and within the same plane as thesecond diffraction grating but with the striations of the fourthdiffraction grating substantially perpendicular to those of the seconddiffraction grating, it is possible to provide a displacementmeasurement system that can also measure the displacement of the firstand third diffraction grating (both connected to a first object)relative to the second and fourth diffraction gratings (both connectedattached to a second object) in a direction substantially parallel tothe plane of the diffraction gratings and substantially perpendicular tothe first measurement direction. Use of such a system makes it possibleto measure the position in three dimensions of one object relative toanother. For example, in a lithographic apparatus, it is possible to usesuch a system to measure the position of a substrate table constructedto support a substrate relative to a reference frame in threedimensions.

FIG. 9 depicts a possible measurement system for a substrate table 100.The system includes four displacement measurement systems 101, 102, 103,104 and described above. The first displacement measurement system 101includes diffraction gratings 101 a, 101 b that are connected to thesubstrate table 100 and diffraction gratings 101 c, 101 d connected tothe reference frame 105. As shown, diffraction gratings 101 a and 101 chave striations substantially parallel to the y axis as depicted in FIG.9 and, accordingly, may be used to measure the movement of the substratetable 100 relative to the reference frame 105 in the x direction. Bycontrast, diffraction gratings 101 b, 101 d have striationssubstantially parallel to the x axis and, accordingly, may be used tomeasure the movement of the substrate table 100 relative to thereference frame 105 in the y direction.

The second, third, and fourth displacement measurement systems 102, 103,104 have corresponding configurations. Accordingly, all fourdisplacement measurement systems are capable of measuring movement ofthe substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame 105 in both thex and y directions. In addition, any or all of the displacementmeasurement systems may be configured to measure the movement of thesubstrate table 100 relative to the reference frame 105 in the zdirection. This redundancy of information may be beneficial because, forexample, it may yield information regarding any deformation, such asthermal expansion or contraction, of the substrate table 100.

Alternatively or additionally, the provision of multiple displacementmeasurement systems capable of measuring movement of the substrate table100 relative to the reference frame 105 in the same direction may beused to determine rotational displacement. For example, any differencein the measured displacement in the z direction measured by thedisplacement measurement systems 101, 103 may be used to determine therotational displacement of the substrate table 100 relative to thereference frame 105 about an axis substantially parallel to the y axis.Similarly, the difference in measured displacement in the z direction ofthe substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame 105, measured bythe displacement measurement systems 102, 104 may be used to determinethe rotational displacement of the substrate table 100 relative to thereference frame 105 about an axis parallel to the x axis. Furthermore,comparison of the measurement of the displacement of the substrate table100 relative to the reference frame 105 in the x direction by thedisplacement measurement systems 102, 104 and, separately, comparison ofthe measurement of the displacement of the substrate table 100 relativeto the reference frame 105 in the y direction measured by thedisplacement measurement systems 101, 103, provides a measurement of therotational displacement of the substrate table 100 relative to thereference frame 105 about an axis parallel to the z axis.

The measurement of the rotation of the substrate table 100 relative tothe reference frame 105 may be important, for example because ingeneral, the position on the substrate at which the displacements indirections parallel to the x, y, and z axes of the substrate 100relative to the reference frame 105 are measured is different from thepoint on the substrate 100 for which it is actually required to know thedisplacement. For example, the point of interest 106 on the substratetable 100 for which the displacement relative to the reference frame 105is desired to be known may correspond to the point on which theprojection beam of radiation is projected by the lithographic apparatusin order to expose the substrate. It should be appreciated thereforethat, in general, the point of interest 106 will be fixed relative tothe projection system of the lithographic apparatus which in turn may befixed relative to the reference frame 105. Accordingly, the point ofinterest 106 is fixed relative to the reference frame 105 and,accordingly, as the substrate table 100 moves relative to the referenceframe 105, the point of interest 106 moves relative to the substratetable. Effectively, therefore, the intention of measuring thedisplacement of the substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame105 is to determine the location on the substrate table 100 of the pointof interest 106.

As will be appreciated from consideration of FIG. 9, it is not possibleto directly measure the displacement of the substrate table 100 at thepoint of interest 106. Instead, as discussed above, the displacement ismeasured at the point at which two diffraction gratings of adisplacement measurement system cross. For example, in the arrangementdepicted in FIG. 9, the first displacement measurement system 101measures the displacement of the substrate table 100 relative to thereference frame 105 in a direction substantially parallel to the y axisat the point 101 e at which diffraction gratings 101 b, 101 d cross. Itshould be appreciated that the displacement of the point on thesubstrate table 100 at the point of interest 106 in the directionsubstantially parallel to the y axis equals the displacement in thedirection substantially parallel to the y axis measured by the firstdisplacement measurement system 101 plus the product of the angulardisplacement of the substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame105 about the z axis multiplied by the distance D1 in the x directionbetween the point of measurement 101 e of the first displacementmeasurement system 101 and the point of interest 106. Accordingly, foran accurate displacement measurement at the point of interest 106 indirections parallel to the x, y, and z axes, it is also desirable toaccurately determine the angular displacement about the x, y, and zaxes.

As discussed above, angular displacements of the substrate table 100relative to the reference frame 105 may be determined by comparing twolinear displacement measurements. It should be appreciated that theaccuracy of the determined angular displacement is determined by theaccuracy of the measurement of the linear displacements and theseparation of the measurement points for the measured lineardisplacements. In general, the greater the separation in a directionperpendicular to both the measurement direction of the lineardisplacement measurements and the axis about which it is intended todetermine the angular displacement, the greater the accuracy of thedetermined angular displacement. Accordingly, as discussed above, inorder to determine the angular displacement of the substrate table 100relative to the reference frame 105 about the z axis, one may comparedisplacement measurements in the direction substantially parallel to they axis by the first and third displacement measurement systems 101, 103or displacement measurements in the direction substantially parallel tothe x axis by the second and fourth displacement measurement systems102, 104. In either case, the separation between the measurement pointsis at least the width of the substrate table 100. It would also bepossible to determine the angular displacement of the substrate table100 relative to the reference frame 105 about the z axis by comparingmeasurements of the linear displacement in directions parallel to the xor y directions by, for example, the first and fourth displacementmeasurement systems 101, 104. However, in this case, separation betweenthe measurement points for the respective linear displacementmeasurements would be approximately half the width of the substrate and,accordingly, the accuracy would be lower.

It should be appreciated that it may be desirable to measure the angulardisplacement of the substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame105 for its own sake. For example, in the case of the angulardisplacement about the z axis, this may be used in order to ensurecorrect overlay. However, as discussed above, the determination of theangular displacement may also be required in order to adjust lineardisplacement measurements in order to compensate for the differencebetween the point of measurement of a linear displacement and the pointof interest 106. As discussed above, the correction to the lineardisplacement measurement corresponds to the product of the distance D1between the point of interest 106 and the point of measurement 101 e.Therefore, in order to minimize the correction and therefore the effectof any error in the determination of the angular displacement, it may bedesirable to minimize the distance D1 between the point of interest 106and the point of measurement 101 e. In general, the accuracy of themeasurement of the linear displacement, including the correction for theangular displacement, can be maximized by maximizing the size of theseparation between the points of measurement used to determine theangular displacement relative to the size of the separation between thepoint of interest and a measuring point 101 e used to determine theuncorrected linear displacement. It has been found that an adequateaccuracy may be provided if the former is at least twice the latter.

It should be appreciated that each portion of a displacement measurementsystem as described above that is used to measure a displacement in asingle direction may be constructed according to any one of theembodiments described above. It should further be appreciated that,although this embodiment has been described with reference to measuringthe displacement of a substrate table 100 relative to a reference frame105 in a lithographic apparatus, the displacement measurement systemdescribed may, in general, be used to measure the displacement of anycomponent relative to another component.

FIG. 10 depicts a displacement measurement system that may be used tomeasure the position of, for example, a substrate table in alithographic apparatus. As shown, this system has less redundancy thanthe system discussed above in relation to FIG. 9. In particular, thereare three displacement measurement systems 110, 111, 112. The firstdisplacement measurement system 110 has a first grating 110 a connectedto the substrate table 100 and a second diffraction grating 110 bconnected to the reference frame 105. Both gratings have theirstriations oriented substantially parallel to the y axis. Accordingly,the first displacement measure system 110 may be used to measure thedisplacement of the substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame105 in a direction substantially parallel to the x axis. The seconddisplacement measurement system 111 has a first diffraction grating 111a connected to the substrate table 100 and a second diffraction grating111 b connected to the reference frame 105. Both diffraction gratings ofthe second displacement measurement system have their striationsoriented parallel to the x axis. Accordingly, the second displacementmeasurement system 111 may be used to measure the displacement of thesubstrate table 100 relative to the reference frame 105 in a directionparallel to the y axis. Accordingly, the first and second displacementmeasurement systems provide sufficient information in order to measurethe displacement of the substrate table 100 relative to the referenceframe 105 in the x-y plane.

The third displacement measurement system 112 has a first diffractiongrating 112 a connected to the substrate table 100 and a seconddiffraction grating 112 b connected to the reference frame 105. As withthe first displacement measurement system 110, the diffraction gratings112 a, 112 b of the third displacement measurement system 112 areoriented such that the striations of the diffraction gratings 112 a, 112b are substantially parallel to the y axis. Accordingly, the thirddisplacement measurement system 112 may, as discussed above, be used inconjunction with the first displacement measurement system 110 in orderto measure distortions of the substrate table for example, in the xdirection. However, alternatively or additionally, the diffractiongratings 110 b, 112 b of the first and third displacement measurementsystems 110, 112 that are connected to the reference frame 105, may beconnected as shown in FIG. 10. In this arrangement, diffraction gratings110 b, 112 b are connected to the reference frame 105 in an offsetmanner. In particular, the diffraction grating 110 b is connected to thereference frame 105 at a different position along the y axis than thediffraction grating 112 b. Consequently, any rotation of the substratetable 100 about the z axis relative to the reference frame 105, isidentified by a difference between the measurement of the displacementof the substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame in the xdirection by the first and third displacement measurement systems 110,112.

In the arrangement depicted in FIG. 10, the diffraction grating 111 b ofthe second displacement measurement system 111 is aligned with the pointof interest 106. Accordingly, regardless of the movement of thesubstrate table 100 relative to the reference frame 105, the point ofmeasurement 111 e of the displacement in the y direction by the seconddisplacement measurement system 111 will always be aligned with thepoint of interest 106. Accordingly, the separation between themeasurement position 111 e of the first displacement measurement system111 and the point of interest 106 in the x direction is zero and anyrotation of the substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame 105about the z axis will not affect the accuracy of the measurement of thelinear displacement in the direction parallel to the y axis.

As discussed above, the accuracy of the determination of the angulardisplacement of the substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame105 about the z axis is determined by the separation D2 in the ydirection between the points of measurement 110 e, 112 e of the lineardisplacement in the x direction of the first and third displacementmeasurement systems 110, 112. Accordingly, adjusting the position of thediffraction gratings 110 b, 112 b that are attached to the referenceframe 105 in order to increase the separation D2 may increase theaccuracy of the determination of the angular displacement about the zaxis.

Although the use of a determination of the angular displacement of thesubstrate table 100 relative to the reference frame 105 in order tocorrect linear displacement measurements to compensate for thedifference in position between the point of interest 106 and the pointsof measurement has been discussed above, in certain circumstances, thismay not be required. For example, in the arrangement depicted in FIG.10, the diffraction gratings 110 b, 112 b of the first and thirddisplacement measurement systems 110, 112 that are connected to thereference frame 105 are positioned such that the respective measurementpoints 110 e, 112 e of the first and second displacement measurementsystems 110, 112 are on either side of and equidistant from the point ofinterest 106 in the y direction. Accordingly, the average of the lineardisplacements in the x direction measured by the first and thirddisplacement measurement systems 110, 112 is the linear displacement inthe x direction at the point of interest 106, regardless of the angulardisplacement of the substrate table 100 about the z axis. Similararrangements may be provided to provide accurate linear displacementmeasurements that are not susceptible to error caused by angulardisplacement for measurements in the y and z directions.

As discussed above, the displacement measurement systems may beconfigured to measure the relative displacement of the two diffractiongratings of a displacement measurement system in a directionsubstantially perpendicular to the plane of the diffraction gratings.Accordingly, it may be desirable to configure the displacementmeasurement systems 110, 111, 112 such that one or more of these canmeasure the relative movement of its respective diffraction gratings ina direction parallel to the z axis. In such a system it is then possibleto measure the displacement of the substrate table 100 relative to thereference frame 105 in a direction parallel to the z axis in addition todisplacement in the x-y plane. In addition, by comparing thedisplacement in the z direction determined from two of the displacementmeasurement systems 110, 111, 112, it is possible to determine therotation of the substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame 105about the x and y axes. Accordingly, it is possible to provide ameasurement system that can measure displacements in six degrees offreedom.

FIG. 11 depicts a further embodiment of the invention. Similar to thearrangement depicted in FIG. 10, the arrangement includes first andsecond displacement measurement systems 121, 122 that measure thedisplacement of the substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame105 in the y direction and, optionally, in the z direction and a thirddisplacement measurement system 120 that measures the displacement ofthe substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame 105 in the xdirection. However, as shown, the difference between the arrangementdepicted in FIG. 11 and the arrangement depicted in FIG. 10 is that thefirst and second displacement measurement systems 121, 122 are arrangedsuch that the diffraction gratings 121 a, 122 a that are connected tothe reference frame 105 are elongate in a direction substantiallyparallel to the x axis, namely in a direction substantially parallel tothe striations of the diffraction gratings. Likewise, the diffractiongrating 120 a of the first displacement measurement system 120 that isconnected to the reference frame 105 is elongate and extends in adirection substantially parallel to the x axis, in this casesubstantially perpendicular to its striations. Accordingly, it is notnecessary to have any components of the displacement measurement systemextending from the reference frame 105 in a direction parallel to the yaxis. Such an arrangement may be beneficial in order to avoid a conflictwith other components of, for example, the lithographic apparatus.

A further benefit of such an arrangement over that depicted in FIG. 10is that the accuracy of the measurement of the rotational displacementof the substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame 105 about anaxis parallel to the z axis is improved. This is because the separationD3, in a direction substantially parallel to the x axis, of the pointsof measurement 121 e, 122 e of the displacement of the substrate table100 relative to the reference frame 105 in the y direction of the firstand second displacement measurement systems 121, 122 is significantlygreater in this configuration than the separation, in the y direction,of the point of measurement of the displacement of the substrate table100 relative to the reference frame 105 in the x direction of the firstand third displacement measurement systems 110, 112 depicted in FIG. 10.

In a manner that corresponds to the arrangement of the seconddisplacement measurement system 111 for measuring the displacement inthe y direction discussed in relation to FIG. 10, in the arrangement ofFIG. 11 the diffraction grating 120 b of the third displacementmeasurement system 120 that is attached to the reference frame 105 isaligned with the point of interest 106 such that measurements of thelinear displacement in the x direction are not affected by the angulardisplacement of the substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame105 about the z axis.

A further benefit of an arrangement such as that depicted in FIG. 11, inwhich measurements of the displacement of the substrate table 100relative to the reference frame 105 in a first direction (in this case,the y direction by the first and second displacement measurement systems121, 122) at measurement positions that are set apart in a directionalong a direction substantially perpendicular to the measuring direction(in this case, along the x direction), is that by taking the average ofthe measurements of the displacement in the measurement direction,errors introduced by a rotational displacement about an axissubstantially perpendicular to the measurement direction and thedirection in which the measurement positions are set apart (in this caseabout the z axis) are eliminated. As before, the greater the separationof the measurement points of the two displacement measurement systems,the greater the accuracy. It should be appreciated that this feature mayalso be effected by the other embodiments of this invention.

It will be appreciated that, likewise, the system could be arranged suchthat all the components of the displacement measurement system extendfrom the substrate table 100 in a direction parallel to the y axis andnone in a direction parallel to the x axis.

As will be apparent, and as in the seventh embodiment, the eighthembodiment may be configured to provide a measurement system that canmeasure displacements in six degrees of freedom.

FIG. 12 depicts a further alternative arrangement, according to a ninthembodiment relating to a second aspect of the present invention.

This arrangement includes a first and a second displacement measurementsystem 130, 131. The first displacement measurement system 130 has firstand second diffraction gratings 130 a, 130 b connected to the substratetable 100. The first diffraction grating 130 a is arranged with itsstriations substantially parallel to the y axis. The second diffractiongrating 130 b is arranged with its striations substantially parallel tothe x axis. The first displacement measurement system 130 furtherincludes third and fourth diffraction gratings 130 c, 130 d connected tothe reference frame 105. The third diffraction grating 130 c is arrangedwith its striations substantially parallel to the y axis and,accordingly, may be used in conjunction with the first diffractiongrating 130 a in order to measure the displacement of the substratetable 100 relative to the reference frame 105 in the x direction. Thefourth diffraction grating 130 d is arranged with its striationssubstantially parallel to the x axis and accordingly may be used inconjunction with the second diffraction grating 130 b to measure thedisplacement of the substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame105 in a direction parallel to the y axis.

The second displacement measurement system 131 includes a diffractiongrating 131 a connected to the reference frame 105 and arranged suchthat its striations are parallel to the y axis. The diffraction grating131 a of the second displacement measurement system 131 is arranged onthe same side of the substrate table 100 as the first displacementmeasurement system 130. Accordingly, the diffraction grating 131 a ofthe second displacement measurement system 131 may be used inconjunction with the first diffraction grating 130 a of the firstdisplacement measurement system in order to provide a furthermeasurement of the displacement of the substrate table 100 relative tothe reference frame 105 in a direction substantially parallel to the xdirection. Therefore, although the entirety of the displacementmeasurement system is arranged on a single side of the substrate table,and therefore leaves the other three sides of the substrate table freefor other components of the lithographic apparatus, it is still possibleto measure the displacement of the substrate table 100 relative to thereference frame 105 in the x direction and the y direction.

Furthermore, by comparing the two displacement measurements in the xdirection from the first and second displacement measurement systems130, 131, the rotation of the substrate table 100 relative to thereference frame 105 about the z axis may be determined. As discussedabove, the accuracy of the determination of the angular displacement ofthe substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame 105 about the zaxis is limited by the separation D4 in the y direction between thepoints of measurement 130 e, 131 e of the first and second displacementmeasurement systems 130, 131.

As before, both the first and the second displacement measurementsystems may be configured to additionally measure the displacement oftheir respective gratings in the z direction. Accordingly, it ispossible to measure the displacement of the substrate table 100 relativeto the reference frame 105 in the z direction and rotationally about thex and y axes. For example, the angular displacement about the x axis maybe determined by comparing the measured linear displacements in the zdirection, for example at measurement points 130 e, 131 e, in which casethe accuracy of the determined angular displacement will, again, bedetermined by the separation D4 between the measurements points 130 e,131 e in the y direction. The angular displacement about the y axis ofthe substrate table 100 relative to the reference frame 105 may bedetermined by comparing the measured linear displacement in the zdirection measured by the first displacement measurement system at ameasurement point 130 f using the diffraction gratings 130 b, 130 d thatare also used to determine the displacement in the y direction, witheither of the measured linear displacements in the z direction measuredat measuring points 130 e, 131 e. However, in this case, the accuracy ofthe determined angular displacement will be limited by the separation D5in the x direction between the first measuring point 130 f and either ofthe other measuring points 130 e, 131 e. Accordingly, the accuracy ofthe determination of the angular displacement about the y axis may besignificantly less than the accuracy of the determination of the angulardisplacement about the x axis because the separation D5 is significantlysmaller than the separation D4.

Although specific reference may be made in this text to the use oflithographic apparatus in the manufacture of ICs, it should beunderstood that the lithographic apparatus described herein may haveother applications, such as the manufacture of integrated opticalsystems, guidance and detection patterns for magnetic domain memories,flat-panel displays, liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), thin-film magneticheads, etc. The skilled artisan will appreciate that, in the context ofsuch alternative applications, any use of the terms “wafer” or “die”herein may be considered as synonymous with the more general terms“substrate” or “target portion”, respectively. The substrate referred toherein may be processed, before or after exposure, in for example atrack (a tool that typically applies a layer of resist to a substrateand develops the exposed resist), a metrology tool and/or an inspectiontool. Where applicable, the disclosure herein may be applied to such andother substrate processing tools. Further, the substrate may beprocessed more than once, for example in order to create a multi-layerIC, so that the term substrate used herein may also refer to a substratethat already contains multiple processed layers.

Although specific reference may have been made above to the use ofembodiments of the invention in the context of optical lithography, itwill be appreciated that the invention may be used in otherapplications, for example imprint lithography, and where the contextallows, is not limited to optical lithography. In imprint lithography atopography in a patterning device defines the pattern created on asubstrate. The topography of the patterning device may be pressed into alayer of resist supplied to the substrate whereupon the resist is curedby applying electromagnetic radiation, heat, pressure or a combinationthereof. The patterning device is moved out of the resist leaving apattern in it after the resist is cured.

The terms “radiation” and “beam” used herein encompass all types ofelectromagnetic radiation, including ultraviolet (UV) radiation (e.g.,having a wavelength of or about 365, 355, 248, 193, 157, or 126 nm) andextreme ultra-violet (EUV) radiation (e.g., having a wavelength in therange of 5-20 nm), as well as particle beams, such as ion beams orelectron beams.

The term “lens”, where the context allows, may refer to any one orcombination of various types of optical components, includingrefractive, reflective, magnetic, electromagnetic, and electrostaticoptical components.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been described above,it will be appreciated that the invention may be practiced otherwisethan as described. For example, the invention may take the form of acomputer program containing one or more sequences of machine-readableinstructions describing a method as disclosed above, or a data storagemedium (e.g., semiconductor memory, magnetic or optical disk) havingsuch a computer program stored therein.

The descriptions above are intended to be illustrative, not limiting.Thus, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modificationsmay be made to the invention as described without departing from thescope of the claims set out below.

1. A displacement measuring system configured to measure a displacementbetween first and second components, the displacement measuring systemcomprising: a first elongated diffraction grating formed on a first faceof a prism mounted to the first component, the first elongateddiffraction grating having an elongated direction orientatedsubstantially parallel to a first direction; a second elongateddiffraction grating connected to the second component, the secondelongated diffraction grating having an elongated direction orientatedsubstantially parallel to a second direction which is not parallel tothe first direction; and a first sensor configured to detect a firstpattern of radiation generated by the diffraction of at least one beamof radiation by the first and second elongated diffraction gratings;wherein the first face of the prism is configured to receive thediffracted radiation beam from the first elongated diffraction gratingand a second face of the prism is configured to re-direct the diffractedradiation beam such that the diffracted radiation beam is incident onthe first elongated diffraction grating on the first face and diffractedin turn by the first elongated diffraction grating, then the secondelongated diffraction grating, and then the first elongated diffractiongrating, and wherein the first pattern of radiation is indicative of thedisplacement of the first elongated diffraction grating relative to thesecond elongated diffraction grating in a third direction orientatedsubstantially perpendicular to both the first and the second direction.2. The displacement measuring system according to claim 1, furthercomprising a second sensor configured to detect a second pattern ofradiation generated by the diffraction of at least one beam of radiationby the first and second elongated diffraction gratings, wherein thesecond pattern of radiation is indicative of the displacement of thefirst elongated diffraction grating relative to the second elongateddiffraction grating in the third direction.
 3. The displacementmeasuring system according to claim 2, wherein the second sensor isseparated from the first sensor in the first direction.
 4. Adisplacement measuring system according to claim 1, further comprising:a third elongated diffraction grating attached to the first componentand oriented such that its elongated direction is substantially parallelto the first direction; a second sensor configured to detect a secondpattern of radiation generated by diffraction of at least one beam ofradiation by the second and third elongated diffraction gratings; afourth elongated diffraction grating attached to the first component andoriented such that its elongated direction is substantially parallel tothe first direction; a fifth elongated diffraction grating attached tothe second component and oriented such that its elongated direction issubstantially parallel to the second direction; and a third sensorconfigured to detect a third pattern of radiation generated by thediffraction of at least one beam of radiation by the fourth and fifthelongated diffraction gratings; wherein the third pattern of radiationis indicative of a displacement of the fourth elongated diffractiongrating relative to the fifth elongated diffraction grating in at leastone of the first, second and third directions.
 5. A displacementmeasuring system according to claim 4, wherein said third pattern isindicative of a displacement of the fourth elongated diffraction gratingrelative to the fifth elongated diffraction grating in the thirddirection; and the displacement measurement system determines arotational displacement of the first component relative to the secondcomponent from the difference in the displacements in the thirddirection indicated by the first and third patterns of radiation.
 6. Adisplacement measuring system according to claim 4, wherein striationsof the fourth and fifth diffraction gratings are substantiallyperpendicular to the first direction; and the third pattern of radiationis indicative of a displacement of the fourth elongated diffractiongrating relative to the fifth elongate diffraction grating in the firstdirection.
 7. A displacement measuring system according to claim 6,wherein said first pattern of radiation is indicative of a displacementof the first elongated diffraction grating relative to the secondelongated diffraction grating in the first direction; and thedisplacement measuring system determines the displacement of the firstcomponent relative to the second component in the first direction froman average of the displacements in the first direction indicated by thefirst and third patterns.
 8. A displacement measuring system accordingto claim 4, wherein striations of the fourth and fifth elongateddiffraction gratings are substantially perpendicular to the seconddirection; and the third pattern of radiation is indicative of adisplacement of the fourth elongated diffraction grating relative to thefifth elongated diffraction grating in the second direction.
 9. Adisplacement measuring system according to claim 4, further comprising:a sixth elongated diffraction grating attached to the first componentand oriented such that its elongated direction is substantially parallelto the second direction; a seventh elongated diffraction gratingattached to the second component and oriented such that its elongateddirection is substantially parallel to the first direction; and a fourthsensor configured to detect a fourth pattern of radiation generated bydiffraction of at least one beam of radiation by the sixth and seventhelongated diffraction gratings; wherein the fourth pattern of radiationis indicative of a displacement of the sixth elongate grating relativeto the seventh elongated diffraction grating in at least one of thefirst, second and third directions.
 10. A displacement measuring systemaccording to claim 9, wherein said third pattern is indicative of adisplacement of the sixth elongated diffraction grating relative to theseventh elongated diffraction grating in the third direction; and thedisplacement measurement system determines a rotational displacement ofthe first component relative to the second component from a differencein displacements in the third direction as indicated by the first andfourth patterns of radiation.
 11. A displacement measuring systemaccording to claim 9, wherein striations of the sixth and seventhdiffraction gratings are substantially perpendicular to the firstdirection; and the fourth pattern of radiation is indicative of adisplacement of the sixth elongated diffraction grating relative to theseventh elongated diffraction grating in the first direction.
 12. Adisplacement measuring system according to claim 9, wherein striationsof the sixth and seventh elongated diffraction gratings aresubstantially perpendicular to the second direction; and the fourthpattern of radiation is indicative of a displacement of the sixthelongated diffraction grating relative to the seventh elongateddiffraction grating in the second direction.
 13. The displacementmeasuring system according to claim 1, further comprising a third sensorconfigured to detect a third pattern of radiation generated by thediffraction of at least one beam of radiation by the first and secondelongated diffraction gratings, wherein the third pattern of radiationis indicative of a displacement of the first elongated diffractiongrating relative to the second elongated diffraction grating in adirection substantially perpendicular to striations of the first andsecond elongated diffraction.
 14. The displacement measuring systemaccording to claim 3, wherein the first pattern of radiation detected bythe first sensor and the second pattern of radiation detected by thesecond sensor determine a rotational displacement of the first componentrelative to the second component about an axis substantially parallel tothe second direction from a difference in the displacements in the thirddirection indicated by the first and second patterns of radiation. 15.The displacement measuring system according to claim 1, wherein thefirst direction is substantially perpendicular to the second direction.16. The displacement measuring system according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a third elongated diffraction grating formed on the face ofthe prism mounted to the first component, the third elongateddiffraction grating having an elongated direction orientatedsubstantially parallel to the first direction; and a fourth elongateddiffraction grating formed on the face of a second prism mounted to thesecond component, the fourth elongated diffraction grating having anelongated direction orientated substantially parallel to the seconddirection.
 17. The displacement measuring system according to claim 16,further comprising: a second sensor configured to detect a secondpattern of radiation generated by the diffraction of at least one beamof radiation by the first and second elongated diffraction gratings,wherein the second pattern of radiation is indicative of thedisplacement of the first elongated diffraction grating relative to thesecond elongated diffraction grating in a direction substantiallyperpendicular to striations of the first and second elongateddiffraction gratings; and a third sensor configured to detect a thirdpattern of radiation generated by the diffraction of at least one beamof radiation by the third and fourth elongated diffraction gratings,wherein the third pattern of radiation is indicative of the displacementof the third elongated diffraction grating relative to the fourthelongated diffraction grating in a direction substantially perpendicularto striations of the third and fourth elongated diffraction gratings.